Cockfighting suspect in custody

NEW ALBANY – A man wanted on narcotics charges in Union County has been arrested in the Great Lakes region.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said Oscar Rodriguez was captured Monday afternoon by U.S. Marshals in Elkhart, Ind. Rodriguez is expected to be extradited back to Mississippi to face charges of possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine, assault on a law officer and possibly possession of a firearm by a felon. He also faces a possible federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

On Aug. 2 Rodriguez became a fugitive after allegedly assaulting a deputy sheriff who found him in a behind a house on County Road 67 near Myrtle. The deputies had been dispatched to respond to a domestic disturbance in which gunfire was reported. Investigators found illegal drugs, a firearm and evidence of a cockfighting operation in and around the home. One other man was arrested on both cockfighting and drug charges during the investigation.